While every other candidate in the Thames–Coromandel mayoralty race has stayed silent, Denise Messiter is the only contender making a submission to The People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity — an independent inquiry set up to examine the Government’s rushed changes to the Equal Pay Act that have cancelled active claims, raised barriers, and rolled back decades of progress.

This silence from her opponents is telling. It signals how low a priority they place on pay equity and how little they value the economic, cultural, and leadership contributions of women — particularly wāhine Māori — across Thames–Coromandel.

“If our leaders can’t even show up when the most significant rollback of pay equity in decades is happening, what does that say about their commitment to fairness?” says Messiter. “It says they don’t see women — and especially Māori women — as equals. And that’s not leadership.”

On 7 May 2025, the Government passed the Equal Pay Amendment Act under urgency, dismantling the claims process and cancelling active pay equity cases — including those that would have directly benefited health, education, and social service workers in Hauraki and Thames–Coromandel.

These changes disproportionately hurt wāhine Māori, who make up the backbone of care, teaching support, and community services in our region. The wage gap between Pākehā men and wāhine Māori in Hauraki–Waikato sits at 23%, well above the national average.

In her submission, Messiter lays out the historical and ongoing injustice:

• Colonisation stripped Hauraki wāhine Māori of economic autonomy, forcing generations into low-paid work.
• Pay equity wins — like the Care and Support Workers Settlement (2017) and Teacher Aide Pay Equity Settlement (2020) — are now being undone.
• The new law raises thresholds, bans cross-sector pay comparisons, and cancels review clauses, making it almost impossible for underpaid women to win justice.

“Pay equity is about mana, whakapapa, and resisting systems that have undervalued our labour for generations,” says Messiter. “When wāhine Māori are underpaid, it affects whānau stability, intergenerational wealth, and the survival of Māori-led services.”

Messiter connects this fight to her 6 measurable, Te Tiriti-principled stepping stones for TCDC:

1. Protect what we own – Investing smarter to sustain what matters, ensuring Māori women are part of decision-making and benefit from infrastructure upgrades.
2. Fair, principled rating model – Designing rates policy that reflects diverse socio-economic realities and doesn’t punish Māori landowners.
3. Financial sustainability – Bringing money back into the district by leveraging relationships with central government — including fighting for GST on rates to be returned to Council.
4. Water sovereignty – Co-designing water solutions with mana whenua that create employment, housing, and economic growth for local communities.
5. Pay equity – Making TCDC a pay-equity principled employer, ensuring women, tangata whai kaha, and takatāpui are fully represented in leadership and paid fairly.
6. Community co-governance – creating decision-making processes that are transparent, participatory, and centred on communities, so local voices shape the policies and projects that affect them.

“Mayoralty races are always a majority of men endorsing themselves as the best candidate while ignoring the real issues facing half our population,” Messiter says. “If they can’t be bothered to participate in the process of pay equity, they don’t deserve to lead Thames–Coromandel. It’s that simple.”

Messiter’s campaign frames this election as a choice between maintaining a system that sidelines women’s voices, or electing a mayor who will stand up, speak out, and deliver equity.

The Committee will report its findings by the end of 2025 — but without strong, informed voices from our region, the lived realities of Hauraki wāhine Māori risk being left out entirely.

Denise Messiter is urging residents to recognise that pay equity is a local issue, tied to the health of our economy, the strength of our communities, and the futures of our tamariki.

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